2004 sport trac problems

[rogue_rose]

well my husband bought me a sport trac, we took the chance. has been good until now.....what happened was the engine light flashed for a couple of seconds last night..it was idling like a bag of crap..the light went off...but still ran bad...this morning engine light came on, so we ran the codes....typical
p0301 and p0316....truck has been running fine until now....i thought maybe bad fuel, or fuel filter, so we change the filter.....on the highway she bucks and snorts and won't accelerate past 70kms very happily... question is in park she idles fine no real burbles or anything, but soon as you put it in gear and sit for a few minutes it starts missing..... could it be bad fuel? or is it something more like coil packs ,wires or plugs..

2004 sport trac
4 liter v6
200,000kms

anyone have this problem....??? help??? ideas???? and thank you for any advice you may have ......

 

[Sasquatch_Ryda]

With those missfire codes start with a good tune up. Plugs/wires/pcv/air filter.

 

[straycat]

With those missfire codes start with a good tune up. Plugs/wires/pcv/air filter.

^what he said:

Tuneup time / fuel filter change should be back to normal. Pull a plug out and look at it. Should give you a hint. Do you know when the last maintenance was done to the truck?

 

[killj0y]

Tune up sounds like the best place to start, along maybe running a fuel system cleaner, new air filter, and all the little things, might be time for an oil change too. but looking at the plugs will likely give you an idea if you know how to read them I say do what these guys said since you didn't mention any kind of service record at all! I'm assuming you at least changed the oil so hopefully a tune up will fix that right up.

 

[rogue_rose]

thanks guys, gonna try the obvious stuff first......will let you know how it goes...... yup we do regular maintenance...first thing when we got it in july changed plugs wires, oil, fluids in the diffs and transfer case....... ( you never know how they have been treated by previous owner) it runs beautifully.....just gotta workout the little bugs.........we drove it to B.C. (from edmonton) put 3000kms on it and no problems, soon as winter weather hits we get the cylinder problem........ The roads here have been horribly bumpy and full of ruts(as bad as i have seen in 20 years here) hoping maybe something jiggled loose.........


Mau

 

[killj0y]

thanks guys, gonna try the obvious stuff first......will let you know how it goes...... yup we do regular maintenance...first thing when we got it in july changed plugs wires, oil, fluids in the diffs and transfer case....... ( you never know how they have been treated by previous owner) it runs beautifully.....just gotta workout the little bugs.........we drove it to B.C. (from edmonton) put 3000kms on it and no problems, soon as winter weather hits we get the cylinder problem........ The roads here have been horribly bumpy and full of ruts(as bad as i have seen in 20 years here) hoping maybe something jiggled loose.........


Mau

My previous set of wires would come loose and cause a misfire so check those and check for spark while your there. Could be a coil not giving any or too little spark. if it looks fine then leave the wires be, check the plugs and see if they resemble any of these

Could be the pump going out since it is only happening at higher speeds and it isn't able to meet the demand. so at idle it is perfectly fine then? no loping?

 

[RangerSVT]

Make sure you get double platinum spark plugs, and not Bosch....


SVT

 

[rogue_rose]

nope no loping in park on idle, soon as u put it in gear you start to get a small miss, but you really notice it on highway just wont take the fuel easily..... hubbie is working on it as we speak, will let you know the verdict! please please be something easy, or he's taking a cab to the airport in the morning(on his way to Fort Macmurray for 2 week rotation)

 

[killj0y]

nope no loping in park on idle, soon as u put it in gear you start to get a small miss, but you really notice it on highway just wont take the fuel easily..... hubbie is working on it as we speak, will let you know the verdict! please please be something easy, or he's taking a cab to the airport in the morning(on his way to Fort Macmurray for 2 week rotation)

Best of luck and keep us posted most people don't and we never hear back

 

[rogue_rose]

will let u know how it goes

I will definetly let you know how it goes with the truck and what we find....been pricing out a new coil pack in case wires and plugs dont fix things....90 bucks not terrible but when you add the fuel filter, plugs and wires so far is 200 bucks....and he's standing on his head out there trying to get to the last two.......hard to get too,and he's a wirey lil fella(ironworker, so used to hard to get to things)

plugs so far looked not terrible none wet, or carboned up, couple looked a bit rusty tho, wires well they wires, somedays

 

[killj0y]

Well if the wires look ok, and you do a continuity test and they pass I wouldn't bother replacing them. As far as the coil pack I'd try and see if the problem cylinders spark at the coil first by placing the disconnected end less than an inch away and see of you can see any spark. If you can't see or hear it then there you go just did mine that way actually. If there is spark there then connect the wire and disconnect it from the plug side and place it close to the block and see if you have spark at that end. If not then it's likely the wire, if you do then move on to the plug and do a continuity test or just swap with a known working plug. See how that works.

You said they aren't wet that means it's burning the gas, if it only happens at higher speeds (RPMs) I'm inclined to think it might be the fuel pump since you already changed out the filter. The pump might be struggling under a higher load. You might try a fuel pressure test. That or an injector is clogged and it's getting no gas at all, but it would be loping throughout the power band.

Either way don't just throw parts at it when you can save money and so some preliminary troubleshooting

 

[rogue_rose]

ok ends up the plugs were BAD!!!! cracked at the base of the electrodes.......so much for the E3.53 wont buy them again......all misses are gone and took it on highway upto 120kmph....nothing no misses no shakes and no engine light or codes!!! and took fuel when i hit the throttle hard.......so thanks for all the input... so in the end it cost 40 for fuel filter, 150 for plugs and wires..... always check the easy first i guess would be the lesson here!!! and don't panic!!!! thanks all
mau



2004 sport trac 4.0l
1997 ranger 3.0l
1968 rambler rogue

 

[killj0y]

ok ends up the plugs were BAD!!!! cracked at the base of the electrodes.......so much for the E3.53 wont buy them again......all misses are gone and took it on highway upto 120kmph....nothing no misses no shakes and no engine light or codes!!! and took fuel when i hit the throttle hard.......so thanks for all the input... so in the end it cost 40 for fuel filter, 150 for plugs and wires..... always check the easy first i guess would be the lesson here!!! and don't panic!!!! thanks all
mau



2004 sport trac 4.0l
1997 ranger 3.0l
1968 rambler rogue

I tried telling you lol, now i would return the wires for a refund and keep the ones u had since you had just purchased them. Besides they didn't have some warranty on them? Some have a lifetime warranty...any money in your pocket is good money i say

 

[rogue_rose]

Yes you told me.....but decided to keep the wires, since the boots on the old ones were not looking so nice......Like a new truck again!!! i love my ford!! once again thank you

mau

 

[killj0y]

Yes you told me.....but decided to keep the wires, since the boots on the old ones were not looking so nice......Like a new truck again!!! i love my ford!! once again thank you

mau

No thank you for letting us know it worked it and the results lol. It's rare now.